Stacking mechanism



y 3 F. E. HOOPER STACKING MECHANISM Filed July 27, 1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 125, 1939. .L- O PER 2,167,045

STACKING MECHANISM Filed July 27, 1957 I 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 A/VEA/TUE: W fM July 25, 1939. F. E. HOQPER 2,167,045

STACKING MECHANISM Filed July 27, 1937 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 72 61 35JVVE/VTUEL July 25, 1939. F. E. HOOPER STACKING MECHANISM Filed July 27,1957 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 /VVEN7Z7 ALL Patented July 25, 1939 PATENT OFFIQESTAOKING MECHANISM Frederick E. Hooper, Marblehead, Mass, assignor toUnited Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. J a corporation of NewJersey Application July 27, 1937, Serial No. 155,972

11 Claims. (01. 214-6) This invention relates to mechanism for takingarticles from a moving carrier and is herein illustrated as embodied ina mechanism for taking toe tips from the carrier of a machine whichoperates upon them and piling them in a stack.

In the manufacture of toe tips for shoes, a machine in common usecomprises a skiving mechanism, a searing mechanism and a perforatingmechanism arranged about the circular path of tip carriers which movearound such path from a loading station, where the operator suppliesthem in succession with toe-tip blanks, past the various mechanismswhich operate upon them and back to the loading station.

: In order to remove these and other articles from their carriers and tostack the articles, there is provided, in accordance with one feature ofthe invention, the combination with an article carrier moving in apredetermined path of transferring mechanism for grasping a movingarticle and removing it from its carrier. In the illustratedconstruction, the moving carrier has jaws which close upon a toe tipinsuch a manner as to leave the margin of the tip projecting from thecarrier in position to be operated upon by the skiving, searing andperforating mechanisrns,

said jaws being opened after the last operation;

and the transferring mechanism comprises a pair of grippers which arenormally held open in posi- 30.tion to have the projecting margin of thetoe tip carried between them. At the proper moment, the moving carrierthrows into operation mechanism for actuating the grippers which causesthem to close on the margin of the toe tip, to transfer the toe tip fromits carrier to a position above a stack support, to release the toe tipand. finally to return. to their initial position with the grippers opento receive another toe tip.

In order to press each article down upon the top of a stack, there isprovided in accordance With another feature of the invention, pressingmeans which acts immediately after. the article is released to press itinto place. In the illustrated construction, two pivoted pressers areprovided which are caused to swing down after the grippers have releaseda toe tip, said swinging down being caused by the moving grippers duringthe return of the grippers from tip-releasing to tip-receiving position.

These and other features of the invention, including certain details ofconstruction and combinations of parts, will be described as embodied inan illustrated machine and pointed out in the appended claims. Referringnow to the accompanying drawings,

Fig. 1 is a plan of a portion of a machine in Which the presentinvention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is an elevation of the transferring and stacking mechanism inprocess of taking a toe tip from its carrier;

Fig. 3 is a detail, partly in section, showing the pers are opened toreleasethe articles;

Fig. 7 is a plan View on an enlarged scale of the transferring andstacking mechanism;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line VIII-VIII of Fig. '7, showing, moreparticularly, the construction of the clutch, and

Fi 9 is a detail in rear elevation of the mechanism which releases thegrippers and the pressers and throws in the clutch to impart a com-.plete reciprocation to the grippers.

The machine herein shown for operating upon a piece of work is a machinefor operating upon toe-tip blanks and is or may be substantially thesame asthe machine of Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,989,682,granted February 2, 1935, upon application filed in the name of John B.Coffey. In this machine, each toe-tip blank is clamped near its rearmargin by the jaws of a tip carrier and, with its margin projecting fromthe carrier, is fed successively first past a mechanism for skiving itsrear edge, then past a mechanism for applying a searing heat along theskived edge and finally past a perforating mechanism for forming a roWof ornamental perforations in its margin. In Fig. 1, one end of such amachine is shown. The tip carriers, two of which are indicated at A andB, are adjacent to the perforating mechanism, indicated as a whole at C,and are moving in a circular path in the direction indicated by thearrow. The tip carriers are mounted at the outer ends of stems D and arerotated about an axis which is the center of curvature of the outeredges of the jaws of the carriers. The carrier A is being moved past theperforating mechanism C which is in process of forming a row ofornamental perforations in the rear margin of a toe-tip blank. At

the completion of the perforating operation, the

jaws of the carrier A will be caused to release their grip upon thefinished tip. The jaws 2 I, 23

are shown in Fig. 2 in their separated relation after the finished tipI66 has been released. The jaw 2| is rigid with the frame of the tipcarrier. The jaw 23 is pivoted to the frame of the tip carrier and isheld in clamping position against the force of a spring bythe levers 25,21 of a toggle, the toggle being broken after the perforating operationhas been completed by contact of the 7 upper end of the lever 21 with aroll'29 which is located in position to engage the lever 21 at theproper time. No further description of the machine will be given, sincethe details of its construction form no part of the present invention,reference being made to the patent for details not herein shown ordescribed. I It willlbe under- I stood, however, that the tip carriersare rotated in the direction indicated in Fig. l by the arrow, and that,after the completion of the perforating operation, the upper jaw of eachcarrier is swung up to release thetip which it carries, the partsthenoccupying the positions shown inFig.

2 with the margin of the released tip I03 projecting beyond the jaws ofthe carrier into a position in which it may be readily grasped.

'As, the carriers successively reach the position ofth'e carrier'A inFig, 2, the finishedtips are taken from them and stacked. Referringstill to Fig, 2, the general operation ofthe stacking mechanism will bedescribed. A sliding transferrer, indicated as a whole by the letter T,has grippers 3|, 33 which areheld open at the proper times in theirextreme right-hand position to permit the margin of a released toe tip Ito be carried between them by one of the moving tip carriers. While theyare so held, a moving carrier strikes a finger 34, movement of whichthrows in a one-revolution clutch whereupon the following movementstaken place. The grippers close upon the margin of the toe tip. ThetransferrerT slides to its extreme left-hand position where its grippers3|, 33 are opened.(Fig. 6) to release the tip and to permit it to' fall.upon a spring-supported platform 35 (Fig. 2) which may be pushed downand will remain in any position,

' towhich it is pushed. The transferrer then returns to. its extremeright-hand position, its grippersbeing held open to receive another tip;

and during this return movement two pivoted' pressers 31 are swung downto exert pressure upon the tip which was just deposited upon theplatform 35 (or upon the top of the stack of tips I06 which is beingbuilt up) and to depress the platform slightly. In this manner, thefinished tips are taken successively from the moving carriers and addedto the stack.

The transferring and stacking mechanism is mounted upon a bracket 4| b-ycap screws 43, said cap screws passing through horizontal slots in thebracket and being threaded into the frame. Turning now to Figs. 2 and 3,the platform 35 is fast to the upper end of a hollow tube 45 which isvertically slidable in a second hollow tube 41 having a closed bottom,

said tube 41 being held firmly in a split bearing two pressers 31,

V (Fig. 5) which is adjustably fastened to the frame of the machine 49is a detent 55 having a weight 51 at its outer.

torsion springs 61, each of which is coiled about the stud SI and theends of which bear against the top of one gripper and the bottom of theother. The grippers are opened at the left-hand end of the slidingmovement of the block 63 by reason 'of an adjustable set screw 69threaded through a part of the bracket 4| which engages a horizontalstud 12 projecting from one side of the vertical arm of a bell-cranklever 1| pivoted about a stud 13 carried by the block 63, said screw 69forcing the stud 12 between the inclined tails I3], I33 of the grippers.At the same time that the grippers are opened, the bell-crank lever 1|is swung counterclockwise about its pivot 13, and its horizontal armrides upthe lower rounded face of a catch 15 and is held by the catch soas to. maintain the grippers open until said catch is later moved torelease the bell-crank lever and permit the spring 61 to close thegrippers. The catch 15 is pivoted at 11 to the slide block 63 and isurged at all times by a torsion spring 19 to swing clockwise as far aspermitted by a stop pin 8|. At its upper end the catch 15 has a tail I15which, just before the slide block 63 starts to move from its extremeright-hand position toward the left, is swung to the left to cause thecatch 15 to release the bell-crank lever 1| and thereby permit theclosing of the grippers 3|, 33 which at that timehave received betweenthem the margin of a toe tip. a

In order to operate thetwo pressers 31 during the right-hand movement ofthe slide block 63 (Figs. 2 and 4) the pivot stud 13 projects from it oneach side. Upon the projecting ends of the stud are loosely hung twoshort arms 83, each carrying at its lower end a roll 85, said rollsbeing arranged to run respectively on the tops of the During theleft-hand sliding movement of the block 33, when the grippers move fromreceiving to releasing position, these rolls have no effect upon thepressers. During the right-hand sliding movement of the block 63,

when the grippers move back to receiving position, the rolls 85 swingthe pressers down. To

this end, each arm 83 has an upwardly projecting finger in position toengage, respectively, pins. 81 carried by the block 63, said pins beingso located as to permit the arms to swing counterclockwise.

when the rolls 85 on the arms engage the pressers 31 during theleft-hand movement of the slide block 63 but to prevent the arms fromswinging clockwise during the return right-hand sliding movement of theblock. Thus, when the slide block 63 moves to the left, the pressers31'remain in raised position but when the slide block returns, the rolls85 swing the pressers down.

These pressers are pivoted to the bracket 4| at 89, have tails I31 andare urged at all times by springs 9| to swing upwardly as far as theheads of screw bolts 93 will permit, said bolts being carried by thebracket M and extending through slots in the tails I31. If no furtherprovision were made, the pressers 31 would rise into and remain in the"position shown in Fig. 2

as soon as the rolls ran off from their righthand ends. In order to holdthem down and keep them held down while the slide block 63 finishes itsmovement to the right and comes to rest with the grippers open, meansare provided for locking the pressersin their lowered positions. Thetails IS'I of the pressers carry rolls, one of which is shown at in Fig.2, which, when the pressers are swung down, engage catches one of whichis shown at 91. Each catch is pivoted at as to the bracket 4! and has atail, to the outer end of which is pivoted at IIII the lower end of anupright link I93 pivoted at its upper end at I05 to the outer end of alink IN, the inner end of which is pivoted at I09 to the bracket. Thelink Iii? has an upwardly extending curved projection to which ispivoted at III one end of a slender slide rod I53 which extends througha guiding bore in a lug on the bracket. When the reciprocation of theslide block 63 from its right-hand position is started each time byswinging the finger 34 to throw in the one-revolution clutch, a lug H5on an arm I29 (Fig. 7) is caused to engage the right-hand end of the rodH3 and push the rod to the left to free the catches 9'! from the rolls95 and permit the springs 9! to swing the pressers up into the positionshown in Fig. 2.

The swinging of the finger 3t, clockwise as iewed in Figs. 1 and 7, notonly throws in the one-revolution clutch in a manner presently to bedescribed and releases the pressers 3? but also trips the catch 15 (Fig.6) by swinging its tail to the left. Referring now more particularly toFigs. '7 and 9, the hub of the finger 34 is loosely mounted on the upperend of an upright pin I I! rotatably mounted in a bearing in the bracket4 I, and is connected by a tension spring IIS to the bracket. Below thepoint of attachment of the spring to the finger, said finger has adownwardly extending projection through which is threaded a stop screwI25, the end of which is normally held against a part of the bracket 4I.The finger 34 thus always remains in the position shown in Fig. 7 exceptwhen it is being swung by a moving tip carrier or allowed to swing backafter the carrier has passed it. Fastened to the bottom of the pin II'Iis an arm I23 connected by a spring I 25 with the bracket GI and by alink MI with a pivoted dog I43 which is normally held by the spring I25in contact with a projection I55 on the roller cage of the clutch laterto be described. The spring I25, because of the construction justdescribed, also normally maintains the pin Ii? in the angular positionshown. Adjustably fastened by a pinch screw I2! to the rotary pin II? isthe hub of a second arm I29, the outer end of which lies in the arc ofmovement of a stud I35 formed on the lower end of a vertical pin I35,the axis of the stud being eccentric to the axis of the pin. The pin isreceived in a socket formed in the finger 34, the upper end of the pinbeing of reduced diameter to extend up through a hole in the top of thesocket and being threaded to receive a lock nut I39 by which the pin isheld in adjusted angular position. When the finger 3a is swung clockwise(Fig. 7) the stud I 35 engages the arm I29 and swings it clockwise; andsince the arms I29 and I23 are fast to the rotatable pin II'I, the

arm I23 is also swung clockwise. The arm I29, as it swings clockwise,accomplishes two results. The projection H5 carried by it pushes theslide rod II 3 to the left, thus freeing the p-ressers 37 whichthereupon rise; and .a face 229 on the arm I29 engages the upwardlyextending tail I15 of the catch I5, thus releasing the grippers 3|, 33,which then close upon the margin of a toe tip. The arm I23, as it swingsclockwise, throws in the one-revolution clutch which imparts a completereciprocation to the slide block 63. It is, of course, desirable thatthe grippers 3I, 33 be caused. to grasp the moving toe tip before theclutch is thrown in, and this timing may be accomplished by varying theangular position of the arm I29 on the pin Hi. It is also desirable thatthe grippers grasp each toe tip midway between ,the ends of its marginwhich project from the jaws of .a tip carrier; that is, having adjustedthe angular position of the arm I29 on the pin II? so that the grippersgrasp the toe tip just before the one-revolution clutch is thrown in, itis desirable to time properly the closing of the grippers with respectto the position occupied at that moment by that one of the moving tipcarriers from which a toe tip is to be taken. This is accomplished byvarying the .angular position of the eccentric stud I35.

Referring now to the one-revolution clutch (Fig. 7), the arm I23 isconnected, as has been explained, by a link MI to a dog I43 pivotedabout a stud I49, said dog controlling in the usual manner the operationof a Horton clutch through which one revolution is imparted from a shaftI45 to a disk I46. This disk has threaded into its upper face a screw I48, the stem of which extends through a slot I4? in one end of a leverI50 which is pivoted intermediate its ends about the stud I49, saidlever having at its other end a slot to receive the stem of .a screw I52 threaded into the block'63. Thus when the disk makes one revolution acomplete reciprocation is imparted to the slide block 63 and .a finishedtoe tip is added to the stack and pressed down. The Horton clutchcomprises the usual roller cage I5I and rolls I53, said cage being urgedat all times to rotate into a position in which the clutch is operative.by a spring I54 and having a projection I55 adapted, when engaged by thedog I43, to arrest the rotation of the roller cage and throw out theclutch. The details of construction of the clutch form no part of thepresent invention and any suitable one-revolution clutch may beemployed. The upright shaft M5 is driven (Fig. 5) from a bevel gear I5?on its lower end by a bevel gear I59 on one end of a horizontal shaftI6I, said shaft having near its other end a spiral gear I63 driven froma second spiral gear I65 on a horizontal shaft IIS'I which is aconstantly driven shaft of the machine of the patent with its endextended, the extended end of the shaft I 67 as well as the end of theshaft I6I being supported in bearings in a bracket I 69 which, inturn,is supported by a hanger I?! the upper end of which is hung on a rod H3,which is also a rod of the patented machine with its end extended. A setscrew IIl fastens the upper end of the hanger IN to the extended end ofthe rod I'I3.

In the operation of the machine, the arm I23 (Figs. 7 and 9) is adjustedinto an angular position such that when the finger 38 is swung by amoving tip carrier the grippers will be caused to close upon a tip, andthe pressers will be released just before the clutch is thrown in; andthe eccentric stud I35 is adjusted so that the grippers will grasp a toetip midway between the ends of its margin which projects from a toe-tipcarrier. As a toe-tip carrier continues its movement after the toe tiphas been perforated, its jaws are reciprocation is imparted to the slideblock 63 with the grippers-ii, 33. During the movement of the grippersfrom receiving to releasing position, the rolls 85 ride over thepressers 31 without depressing them. Atthe left-hand end of thegjmovement of the slide block 63, the grippers are opened to release thetoe tip above the stack of tips on the support. During the returnmovement of the grippers to receiving position, the rolls 83 depress thepressers 31 so as to press the go'fireleased toe tip upon the top of thestack and to push down the stack support, the pressers being locked inlowered position by the catches 9?. The

slide block 63 continues'its movement to the right and comes to restwith the grippers open in position to receive another toe tip from theneXt toe-tip carrier.

Although the invention has been described as set forth in a particularmachineQit should be understood that the invention is not limited to thescope of this application to the particular machine which has been'shownand described. Having described my invention, what I claim 'as'new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent 1 the United States is:

1. A machine of the class described having, in combination, an articlecarrier, means for moving the article carrier in a predetermined path,

transferring mechanism past which the carrier moves for grasping amoving article and removing it from the carrier, said mechanismincluding a pair of grippers which are moved toward each other to graspan article and are then moved bodily to remove the article, and anormally stationary member which is engaged by the moving carrier as thecarrier approaches the transferring mechanism for actuating saidmechanism. 2. A machine of the class described having, in combination,an article carrier moving in a predetermined path, transferringmechanism for grasping a moving article and removing it from itscarrier, a normally stationary member engaged by the moving carrier asit approaches the transferring mechanism for actuating saidmechanism,and means for varying the timing of the actuation of the'transferringmechanism with respect to the' position of the moving carrier whilemaintaining the normal stationary position .of the member unchanged.

3. A machine of the class described having, in combination, an articlecarrier moving in a predetermined path, transferring mechanism forgrasping the moving article and removing it from the carrier, saidmechanism comprising grippers, mechanism for actuating the grippersincluding causing them to come to rest in open position in the path ofan approaching article, and means engaged by the article carrier forthrowing said actuating mechanism into operation to cause the grippersto close upon the article and remove it from the carrier.

' 4. A machine of the class described having, in combination,articlecarriers movable in a circular path with the margin of thearticles projecting from the carriers, and transferring and stackingmechanism for engaging the projecting margins of the articles, removingthe articles from the carriers, stacking them and pressing each articledown upon the stack, said mechanism including pressing means and a pairof grippers between the open jaws of which the margins of theartidetermined path, and mechanism located adja-V 7 cent to the path ofthe carriersand actuated successively by the moving carriers as saidcarriers approach the mechanism for removing the articles from thecarriers and stacking them, said,

mechanism comprising a support for a stack of articles, a pair ofgrippers movable from receiving position adjacent to the path ofmovement of the carriers to releasing position above the stack support,yielding means for closing the grippers, a catch for holding thegrippers stack support, a pair of grippers mounted for movement fromreceiving position adjacent to the path of the carrier to releasingposition above the stack support and back to receiving position,

means for engaging and opening the grippers in releasing position, acatch for holding them open as they are returned and brought to rest inreceiving position, actuating mechansim for imparting movement to thegrippers from receiving position to releasing position and back again,and means engaged and moved by a carrier for disengaging the catch andfor rendering the actuating mechanism operative.

7. Mechanism for taking articles from a moving carrier and stacking themhaving, in com bination, a stack support, a pair of grippers mounted formovement from receiving position adjacent to the path'of the carrier toreleasing position above the stack support and back to receivingposition, means for engaging and open? ing the grippers in releasingposition, a catchfor holding them open as they are returned to andbrought to rest in receiving position, a presser operated by themovement of the grippers to receiving position to press the releasedarticles upon the stack on the support, a catch for engaging the presserand holding it in pressing position, actuating mechanism for impartingmovement to the grippers from receiving position to releasing positionand back again, and means engaged and moved by a carrier for disengagingthe catches and for rendering the actuating mechanism operative.

8. Mechanism for transferring and stacking articles having, incombination, a stack support, a pair of grippers, means for causing thegrippers to grasp an article, to move it into a position above the stacksupport and there release it, a presser, and means moving with thegrippers from their releasing to their grasping position for causing thepr-esser to act upona released article.

9. A machine of the class described having, in combination, an articlecarrier moving in a predetermined path, a stack support, mechanism fortransferring an article from the carrier into a position above the stacksupport, mechanism for pressing the articles against the stack support,and actuating means thrown into operation by a moving carrier foroperating both said mechanisms.

10. A machine of the class described having, in combination, a pluralityof carriers for flat articles of sheet material, said carriers beingmovable in a circular path which includes the plane of the articles, astack support located adjacent to said path, mechanism for transferringarticles one by one from the carriers into a position above the stacksupport, mechanism for pressing the articles against the stack support,and actuating means including a clutch thrown into operation by a movingcarrier for operating both mechanisms.

11. A machine of the class described having, in combination, an articlecarrier movable in a predetermined path, transferring mechanism forgrasping moving articles and removing them from the carrier, saidarticles being of such shape that they may be grasped at different 10-calities on them, a normally stationary member engaged by the movingcarrier as it approaches the transferring mechanism for actuating saidmechanism, means for varying the timing of the actuation of thetransferring mechanism with respect to the position of the movingcarrier While maintaining the normal stationary position of the memberunchanged, and means for varying the locality on the articles which isgrasped by the transferring mechanism.

FREDERICK E. HOOPER.

